What the body knows (and the mind often doesn't) Part 3: Walking on sky - systemic perception

Many, many years ago, my husband and I were walking along the beach at the Oregon coast and I asked him to share his experience with me. He exclaimed about the beautiful sunny day and clear weather we were having and how nice it felt to walk on the beach. I suddenly realized how different our perceptions and experiences of the same scene were. It took me a moment to realize that much of his experience was being process cognitively, as thoughts about the day and what he was doing. My experience was radically different. I was absorbed by the sparkling diamonds of light the glittered off the ridges of sand each time a wave withdrew, the undulating rhythm of the ridges carved by a small stream draining out to the sea, the warmth of the breeze against my face, the squish of the wet sand between my toes…in other words, the sensory nature of the experience. As we walked I began to describe all of these sensory experiences to him. It was as if a hidden world opened up for him. He simply hadn’t noticed all of these sensory details of our surroundings. For me, this is where I live. I was inspired by this experience to craft the poem I share with you below.

Perception is tricky (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyu7v7nWzfo). We think we live in the same world, that what appears in our mind is the same as what appears to others. This is not so. Many couples have fought their way into court arguing over whose perception was correct. This is foolish. As researcher Anil Seth explains here, our brains are always selecting certain details, omitting others, and constructing our experience of “reality” moment by moment. There is no “absolute” reality. All of our experience as humans is subjective.

Perception can be trained and thus increased. You can learn to pay attention to aspects of your surroundings that might escape your awareness without that training. For example, a jazz musician can hear a chord progression and understand the language of sound that is being spoken among the musicians whereas another person might just perceive organized noise. I happen to have the better part of a bachelor of fine arts degrees, so my perception of the visual world has been honed, whereas my dear (retired) engineer husband is much more attuned to mechanical things.

In teaching constellations for over two decades, it’s become clear to me that systemic perception also needs to be trained. Learning to see and sense systems and use the patterns of embodied relational experiences we see in a constellation over time requires training. Even learning to perceive simple group behavior takes training. I remember the first time I noticed a “wave” of unconscious movement traveling through a cohesive group. We were doing a silent study exercise in a training group I was part of when I was overcome with a sneeze. My sneeze rippled through the group almost in a perfect meter - sneeze, sneeze, sneeze, sneeze, sneeze. It was truly a moment when my hair stood on end. I felt our unconscious cohesiveness as a group in that startling moment as one sneeze traveled beat by beat through the group.

This subject has intrigued me even before I started constellation work. I now perceive much differently and have access to more information than I can put into words. I want to share this way of experiencing the world with you through my series of Master Classes and Workshops. Our next one on floor work is one of my favorite topics. I do hope you’ll join me.

Walking on Sky

by Jane Peterson

My shadow stretches long and liquid beside me.

A perfect heart plump in the sandy imprint of a boot.

Ribbons of surf frilly ivory tops dance with the shore.

Enigmatic foamy dots and dashes calligraphy competes with mirror clouds.

A tiny river of braided honey splits the blue sky.

Myriad of little birds darting sixteenth and thirty-second notes

Skitter across the score of the sky in a melody too fast and dense for me to hear.

Two or four children play catch with their mirror dogs.

My toes, kissed by the mother of life cool and powerful.

Who dusted the steps of heaven with so many sparkling sequins?

The castle of Gondor rises in the sand beside me.

The sky becomes a ribbon of pure gold.